Tubing and casing spear.



G. M. HBETER.

TUBING AND CASING SPBAR. APPLICATION FILED 213.14, 1907.

Patented Apr.'26, 1910.

UNITED sTA'rns Parnu-r ormoni.

CHARLES IVI. HEETER, OF BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA.

TUBING AND CASING SPEAR.

To all 'whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. HEETER, residing at Butler, in the county of Butler and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tubing and Casing Spears, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a tool for reioving tubing and casing from wells, and one object is to provide for releasing the hold on the tubing or casing whenever such release is desired, as for instance when it is found that the same is too tightly held within the well to be removed.

A further object is to provide a spear which may be operated as a ar without impairing the hold or grip on the tubing, thus loosening the latter and thereby increasing the eficiency of the tool.

The invention is here shown embodied in a hollow body portion formed with opposite inclined slip-ways, and with two sets of vertical slots, one set intersecting said ways, and the other set at right angles thereto. A stem portion is movable vertically in the body and carries a transverse key which, by turning the stem, is adapted to move in either set of slots. Upon raising the stem with the key in the slip-intersecting slots, the slips are raised and released, when the tool may be removed. With the stem turned and the key operating in the other slots, the slips are not affected by the upward movement of the stem excepting to make their hold more secure, and by reciprocating the stem when in this adjustment it operates as a jar, tightening the hold of the slips, and loosening the tubing within the well.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the improved tool. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same gripping the tubing or casing, with the stem in position for either raising or arring the tool. Fig. 8 is a similar view, showing the stem raising the slips and disengaging them from the tubing. Figs. t and 5 are crosssectional views taken on lines lf-4t and 5 5, respectively, of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designates the elongated tubular body of the spear formed at its upper end with the annular head or enlargement 3 which engages the upper extremity of the tubing or casing 4, thus stopping the tool in the upper portion of the latter. Head 3 is threaded for the purpose presently to be explained. Theup- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led February 14, 1907.

Patented Apr. 26, 1910.

Serial No. 357,316.

per portion of the body 2 is formed on opposite sides with the upwardly converging slip-ways 5, the lower ends of which merge into the outer surface of the body, and conned and slidable on these ways are the toothed slips 6. The' lower portion of body 2 is formed with two sets of vertical slots, one set-7 and 7 '-intersecting ways 5, and the other set-8 and 8-arranged at right angles thereto. The lower ends of slot portions 7 and 8 are connected at 9, andthere is a corresponding connection 10 between portions S and 7 Owing to these slot connections, prong-like portions 11 are formed on opposite sides of body 2, having beveled extremities 1l.

l2 is the stem of the tool having head 13 to which the operating member is connected. The stem extends downward through body 2 and carries transverse key or bar 141-. adapted to slide in either set of vertical slot-s, passing from one to the other through their communicating lower ends by partially turning the stem when in lowered position.

In operation, the tool when being lowered into the casing is in the adjustment shown in Fig. 3, key la being in slots 7, 7 and holding the slips elevated and out of engagement with the casing. lith the tool in position at the upper end of the casing, the stem is lowered and so turned as to enter key la in slots 8, 8, and with the support removed from the slips they move downward on the inclined ways, expand and tightly grip the tube. The stem is then raised, engaging key l14: with the upper ends of slots 8, 8, drawing the spear and the gripped tubing out of the well. If the hold of the slips is not secure, it may be made so by raising and lowering the stem, causing the key to knock against or jar the upper ends of the slots, and the same operation is effective in loosening the tubing or casing if it resists the pull of the spear. If the tubing cannot be started, or if for any other reason it is desired to release the spear, the stem is lowered and turned to place key lt in slots 7, 7, so that when raised it elevates and releases the slips, permitting the tool to be withdrawn without injury thereto. I-Ieretofore, many spears of expensive construction have been lost owing to the fact that they could not be released after having once gripped an immovable tubing or casing. f

The expansive grip of the spear slips, sometimes splits the tubing, making the hold ineective. For this emergency I provide an open-end bell or socket 15, which connects with the threaded head 3 and depends around the tool in skirt fashion. This bell or socket embraces the tubing or casing, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and so contines it that even though split, the slips maintain a firm hold. The spear may be operated at all times with the bell or socket attachment, or the latter may be applied only when a split` is encountered.

I claim:

l. The combination of a spear body open downwardly through its upper end and having vertical slots located in different portions thereof and communicating with each other at their lower ends, the body having downwardly diverging slip-ways in opposite sides of its outer surface which intersect one of the slots, slips slidable on said ways, an operating stem movable vertically in the body and adapted'to turn therein, and a key at the lower end of the stem movable from one slot to the other when the stem is lowered and movable vertically in either of said slots.

2. The combination of a spear body open downwardly from its upper end and formed with the opposite external downwardly diverging slip-ways, slips slidable in the ways, the body being' formed with vertical transverse slots located in diiterent portions thereof with one of the slots intersecting the slip-ways, the slots having communicating passages at their lower ends and the body having downwardly pointed slot-separating portions overhanging the passages, an operating stem movable vertically through the upper end of the body, and a key carried by the lower end of the stem and when lowered movable from one slot to the other and capable of vertical movement in either slot.

3. The combination of a spear body, tube gripping means carried by the body and adapted to be released from the tube when subjected to an upward pull independently of body, and a lifting device movable with relation to the body with means for connecting the same either with the gripping means or with the body independently of the gripping` means.

4. The combination of a body having downwardly diverging slipways, slips movable downwardly on the ways to engage a tube and upwardly thereon to disengage the same, a lifting device movable vertically in the body, means for connecting said device with the slips to disengage them from the tube, and means for engaging the lifting device with the body independently of the slips foi; exerting an upward pull on the gripped tu e.

5. rIhe combination of a spear body slotted vertically-the slots communicating and extending at right angles to each other, the body having downwardly diverging slipways intersecting one of the slots, tube-gripping slips operative on the slipways, an operating stem turnable in the body, and a transverse key carried by the stem and movable in either of said slots.

6. rlhe combination of a spear body having downwardly diverging slipways, tubegripping slips slldable on said ways, the body having vertical slots arranged at right angles to each other and communicating at their lower ends, one of the slots intersecting the slipways, an operating stem turnable and movable vertically in the body, and a transverse key carried by the stem and movable in either ot the body slots.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES M. HEETER.

Witnesses ALEX. S. MABON, J. M. Nnsrr. 

